The Swivelpole™ is described in the International Patent Application published as WO0125687 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,832, the contents of which are incorporate herein by reference. This product consists of a light pole which has a swivelling joint along its length. The swivelling joint allows for safer and easier changing and repair of lights than had previously been available.
The Swivelpole™ has proved highly successful, and has become an important safety feature in many industrial, mining, and oil-and-gas installations. Nonetheless, it is considered that improvements may be possible in both the manufacture and use of the product.
The Swivelpole™ requires precise welding of flat plates onto tubing. Such welding requires considerable expertise, in addition to costly equipment. Inexpert welding can lead to distortion of the flat plates, resulting in an underperforming joint. It is considered desirable to have a joint which could be formed without welding, for instance by casting and machining. The Swivelpole™ cannot be easily formed by such a method.
In addition, by the nature of its design, the Swivelpole™ includes an open joint into which water and dust can locate. This is problematic in some applications.
The present invention seeks to improve some features of the previous Swivelpole™ design, particularly to allow for easier manufacture, whilst retaining the key concept of the swiveling joint.